Constituency office of Speaker of Parliament gutted by fire

KINGSTOWN CMC:

Four months after his South Leeward constituency office was destroyed by fire, another blaze has gutted the constituency office of the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Jomo Thomas.

Thomas told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that he believes last weekend's fire is a "rather unnerving development" and that the office is being deliberately targeted.

Thomas, an attorney, was one of the unsuccessful candidates of the ruling Unity Labour Party (ULP) that won the December 9 general elections last year which the main opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) has refused to accept, claiming various irregularities led to the ULP winning a fourth consecutive term in power.

Thomas's campaign office in Chauncey was destroyed during the campaign leading up to the polls and speaking of last weekend's blaze he said "I must tell you I find it really tragic that the elections are gone and there is still this, what may well be and I don't want to speak out of turn, but you know there is the old saying that lightning don't strike twice in the same place, particularly in the space of four and a half months this office is burnt, which seems to me that the office is a target.

"And from both a personal and political level, it is quite concerning to me. It was really shocking to me, realising it was on October 16th last year that that office was burnt," he said.

"Apparently, someone saw the smoke coming and alerted the police, and they came and were able to save the structure at least the wooden structure, because, the last time, the entire wooden structure was burnt," he added.